


The Announcement

by silly_mortal



Category: Life Goes On (TV)
Genre: Divorce, Family Drama, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26642056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silly_mortal/pseuds/silly_mortal
Summary: Libby shares some news with her children.
Relationships: Libby Thacher/Jerry Berkson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 11





	The Announcement

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place a few years after 'The Conference'. Jerry is definitely Nicky's father, if that's not clear. I'm probably going to jump around their relationship and post different stories here and there. :-)
> 
> My Jibby Timeline:
> 
> The Conference  
> A Series of Questions  
> The Baby  
> The Sitter  
> The Trip  
> The Weekend  
> The Announcement  
> The Conversation  
> The Memories  
> Halloween With The Berksons  
> The Patient  
> 

“WHAT??!”

Libby sighed.

“I said that Jerry and I are going to get married.”

A mixture of groans and gasps echoed throughout the room.

Libby was starting to second guess whether it had been a good idea to tell the kids about her and Jerry on the day before Thanksgiving. Maybe she should have taken Jerry’s advice and waited until after the holiday was over. She just thought it would be nice to tell the kids the night before, so they could get over any shock, and all celebrate the news with her and Jerry next day, over Thanksgiving dinner. She had, obviously, misjudged her children’s ability to be happy for her.

“What do you mean you’re getting married? Since when?” Becca demanded, in that dramatic way of hers. “And to _Jerry_? Jerry, as in _your boss_ Jerry?”

“Since… now. He asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

“Congratulations,” Amanda said, smiling.

Libby smiled and thanked her. She was a sweet girl and Libby couldn’t have asked for a better wife for her son. She only wished the same reaction had come from even one of her kids.

Becca let out a groan and collapsed into a chair. 

“Where is he supposed to live?” she asked. “Here? With _us_?”

“Of course, here.”

“In _our_ house?” Corky demanded.

“Yes, in our house. Husbands and wives live together, Corky. You know that.”

The room was silent.

“Mom,” Becca said, suddenly. “Where’s Nicky?”

“Jerry took him out to do a little early Christmas shopping, so we all could talk without me having to attend to a baby.”

“Took him out?” Corky asked. “He’s not Nicky’s dad!”

“No…” Libby said, quietly. “But he loves Nicky and he’s allowed to spend time with him if I say he can.”

“I don’t want Jerry to be my dad!” Corky exclaimed.

Libby sighed.

“Jerry’s not going to be your dad, Corky. You already have a dad. He just wants to be my husband and he wants to be your friend.”

“I have enough friends,” her son grumbled.

Libby remained quiet for a moment, trying to decide how best to approach him. Sometimes, she felt as if she had spent her entire life learning to be patient with her eldest son.

“I thought you liked Jerry, Corky,” she said, softly.

“I _do_ like him… but I don’t want him sleeping in Dad’s bed with you.”

“It isn’t _Dad’s_ bed, it’s _my_ bed. Your dad is keeping the restaurant and I am keeping the house. Nothing here is Dad’s anymore, it’s only mine.”

“But it’s the same bed you sleep in with Dad.”

“What difference does _that_ make, Cork?” Becca chimed in, disgusted. “Dad’s sleeping in Susan’s bed now. He doesn’t live here anymore.”

“I don’t care!” Corky turned to Libby. “I don’t want Jerry to sleep in the same bed that you slept in with Dad.”

“Ok, honey,” Libby sighed. “Then Jerry and I will get a different bed. We’ll replace it with the one from Jerry’s apartment. Will that make it easier?”

“I don’t want him sleeping in the same room Dad was in, either.”

Libby mentally counted to ten, before answering, trying to rein in her Italian temper, as she had done _so often_ over the years.

“That’s being unreasonable, Corky. Where are we _supposed_ to sleep? There’s no other room in the house that’s big enough for two people.”

Corky thought about this a second.

“You can move up into the room above the garage,” he finally said. “Then Amanda and I can move into yours and Dad’s room, so Jerry doesn’t sleep in there.”

“And what about the baby, Corky?” Libby asked. “He needs to be close to me. Am I supposed to move Nicky to the room above the garage, because you don’t want Jerry in the same room that your father once slept in?”

“Charles,” Amanda said, to Corky. “That’s not fair.”

“I don’t care!” he snapped. “I don’t want anything to change!”

“Life is full of changes, Corky,” Libby said, kneeling down in front of where her son sat and taking his hand. “I love Jerry and he loves me... Can you imagine what it would have been like if I had said that it wasn’t ok for you to live with Amanda? You didn’t like it when her parents wanted to keep the two of you apart. It hurt you.”

Corky contemplated this a moment.

“She’s right, Charles,” Amanda said.

“It’s not the same!” he insisted. “We weren’t married to other people. You were married to Dad and, when you get married, that’s supposed to be forever!”

Libby took a deep breath.

“Honey… Your dad and I are not together anymore. We don’t love each other that way anymore. He loves someone else now and I love someone else. The changes have already happened. Dad is living with the person he loves and I want to live with the person I love. I want to be with Jerry every single day and night, just like you want to be with Amanda every single night and day.”

Corky stared at his mother.

“Is that why Jerry comes here at night?”

“What do you mean?” Libby asked, cautiously.

“Amanda and I see Jerry come over at night, after we go to our room,” Corky explains.

“Charles,” Amanda stated, putting her hand on her husband’s. “I told you that’s _none_ of our business.”

“Jerry likes to give Nicky a bath and put him to bed,” Libby explained, scrambling for a believable excuse.

“Then why doesn’t he leave until morning?” Corky asked. “And why does he wait until we’re not home? Why is it a _secret_?”

Libby sighed and stood up.

“I was waiting to talk to you about it until we were all together-”

Becca looked at Libby in shock.

“He stays the _night_ here?!” Becca asked. “Mother! Have you been having _sex_ with Jerry?!”

“Rebecca!” Libby hissed. “That is _none_ of your business. I am a grown woman-”

“That means yes! Eww, gross!”

“We are two adults who _love_ each other. It is not gross.”

“It is gross! You shouldn’t be… doing that at your _age_!” 

“How _old_ do you think I am, Becca? I have a baby who isn’t even two years old – how do you think I got him?”

A horrified look appeared on Becca’s face.

“Mom, that is…I don’t even want to think about that! Eww! And I’m sorry, but Jerry?! Gross!”

“Stop it now, Becca. I don’t want to hear you talk that way about Jerry again,” Libby snapped.

Becca glared at Libby from behind her wide-rimmed glasses, but stayed silent.

“You shouldn’t be rude about Jerry, none of you should. He likes you all very much and has tried to be very good to you.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Becca scoffed, “but what has Jerry ever done for me? He likes to spend time with Nicky and he does things with Corky once in awhile, but name one thing he’s ever done for _me_.”

Libby took a deep breath and tried to control her irritation. It bothered her that Becca was beginning to act more and more like Paige and Drew every day, including picking up their ‘What about me?’ line. It was getting old and today was not the day.

“Becca, you know that Berkson & Berkson internship/scholarship that Jerry created to help put a kid through college? He didn’t create that because he wanted a teenager in the office, disrupting everything – he created it for _you_ , to help you. He wanted to make sure you had some money of your own every single semester, so you didn’t have to ask your dad and I for money or have to get a job while you’re taking classes.”

“I _worked_ for that money, Mother. He didn’t just _give_ it to me.”

“Yes, you worked for it, but the amount of the scholarship vs the amount of hours you worked for it ends up being way more per hour than he pays _me_ – and I’m the person he’s _in love_ with!” 

Becca’s eyes widened, in shock.

“He also paid for your plane ticket home, because your father and I couldn’t afford to fly you home from college for both Thanksgiving _and_ Christmas. _And_ he’s going to help me pay for your college, because you don’t have a full ride scholarship. _And_ he pays for the emergency credit card you use for things that are _not_ emergencies. _And_ he’s been talking to me about us getting you a car for Christmas, so that you have something reliable to drive when you’re at school. _And_ -”

A snort came from the corner of the room.

Libby turned to look at Paige, who was staring at her from the piano bench.

“You haven’t said anything tonight, Paige,” she said, softly. “What are you thinking about all this?”

Paige took a deep breath, before answering.

“I think it’s _disgusting_ that you and Dad have only been separated for a few months and you’ve already jumped into bed with your boss!”

“Your father and I are not just separated, we are getting a _divorce_. We are just waiting for it to be finalized.”

Paige snorted again.

“I notice, Paige, that you didn’t mention anything about your father jumping into bed with his waitress. He moved straight out of this house and into her apartment on the same day. I haven’t heard you once take issue with that.” 

“Dad fell _in love_ with Susan.”

“And I fell _in love_ with Jerry.”

“How long ago, though? You’ve been working for Jerry for a long time. How long ago did it start?”

Libby didn’t answer, both afraid to lie and afraid to open a can of worms.

“Did it start because you got jealous when Dad left you for someone else? Or did it start when you realized you needed to start _whoring_ yourself to get money for Becca?”

“Paige!” Becca gasped.

Fury filled Libby’s eyes.

“You sure as hell wouldn’t have done something like that if _I_ needed something!” Paige added.

“Don’t you _dare_ talk to me that way, Paige Marie Thacher! Don’t use the kind of language with me that you use with your friends. I am your _mother_!” 

“No, you’re not!”

This time, it was Libby’s turn to snort.

“Oh, am I not your mother _today_? I certainly am whenever you _want_ something!”

“Don’t worry about me wanting anything from you _ever_ again!”

Libby rolled her eyes.

“Oh, please, Paige. Fine, I am your _step_ mother… but I have been wiping your butt since you were six-months-old and I am still doing it, at least figuratively! You’ll be wanting something tomorrow or the next day and I’ll be ‘Mom’ again. But, until that day comes, I expect you to treat with me with the bare minimum level of respect that you would give any stranger on the street – and that would not include referring to me as a _whore_!”

“You. Are. Not. My. Mother.” Paige hissed. “You have never been my mother! You’re just the woman my father knocked up and _had_ to marry.”

There was a collective gasp in the room. 

Corky, Becca and Amanda all immediately looked at Libby, who was staring at Paige, shocked. A cold smile crossed Paige’s face.

“You didn’t know I knew that, did you, Libby? Well, it isn’t hard to add up the dates. Besides, Dad has been telling me all about you for _years_! How he wished he had never met you. How you saddled him with a life he didn’t want. How you got pregnant with Corky and he was _forced_ to marry you. How he wanted to leave you but he was too good of a man not to stay, when Cork was born with Down’s. How he only wanted to leave it at me and Corky, but you _had_ to have another child, so Becca came along. How he _thanked God_ when you lost the baby after that, so there wouldn’t be anymore. How, just when he was planning to leave as soon as Becca left to college, you went and got pregnant with Nicky and stuck him with 18 more years of having to support a child he _doesn’t want_.”

Libby felt as if someone had punched her in the stomach. She gripped the closest chair, to steady herself, afraid her legs were going to give out.

“Mom…?” she heard Becca say, in a strangled voice. 

She couldn’t bring herself to look at Becca or Corky. She couldn’t force her astonished eyes away from Paige’s cold ones.

“Nothing to say, Libby? Is that because you know it’s all true?”

“You can tell your dad,” Libby said, in a low, unsteady voice, “if he wants to terminate his parental rights, I can have a lawyer draw them up anytime he wants and he can stop supporting _my baby_ the second he signs them. I know someone who wants nothing more than to be Nicky’s father.”

“I’ll tell him,” Paige stated, flippantly. “I’m sure he’ll be thrilled at the prospect.”

Libby nodded and looked down.

The room was thick with silence.

“You are not my mother, Libby,” Paige finally said. “You have never been my mother – I don’t care what I called you, in a moment of weakness. I was just trying to make the best of a bad situation.”

Paige stood up and walked over to Libby, towering over her. She leaned down, so she could put her face right in front of her stepmother’s, and spoke in a voice so low that everyone other than Libby struggled to hear it.

“I _hate_ you. I have hated you since the moment I met you-”

“You can’t even remember the moment you met me. That’s how long I have been in your life,” Libby choked, struggling to not lose control of her emotions. “But _I_ remember the it... The moment your father first laid you in my arms, I lov-”

“I am so _happy_ my father left you. I am so happy that I never again have to _pretend_ to love you or care what you think. I am so happy that I never _ever_ have to lay eyes on you again.”

Paige turned, grabbed her bag and headed toward the front door. As she pulled it open, Jerry was walking up, holding a sleeping toddler in his arms.

“Hi Paige,” he smiled. “Are you leaving? It’s a little cold out – you might want to put on that jacket.”

She let our a wordless roar and pushed past him. Confused, Jerry walked into the house and headed toward the living room. 

“Hey everyone! Nicky’s out like a light, Libs. Does he still need a bath or can I put him straight to bed?”

Breaking into sobs, Libby raced out of the room and up the stairs.

“Libs?!” he called. 

When she didn’t answer, he turned back to see three sets of eyes staring at him, each with a different expression in them. Amanda looked shocked, Corky sad and Becca furious.

“What happened?” he asked, timidly.

When no one immediately answered, Jerry headed up the stairs, after Libby.

For a moment, no one said a word. 

Finally, Corky spoke.

“What did Paige mean about Dad?” 

“Which part, Cork?” Becca answered. “That he never wanted to be with Mom or that he never wanted us?”

“Both.” 

“Well, it’s just exactly that. Apparently, Dad never wanted _any_ of us. Except Paige.”

“But he _loves_ us. And I thought he loved Mom!”

“He might love us, but it doesn’t mean he didn’t want us in the first place... Cork, remember when Mom didn’t want Arnold when we first got him? She wanted a cat, but Dad wouldn’t let her get one. She ended up loving Arnold later though. It’s like that.”

Corky thought about this for a moment.

“Do you think it hurts Arnold that Mom didn’t want him in the beginning?”

Becca sighed.

“I don’t think he knows, Cork, so I don’t think it hurts him.”

“Like us,” Corky said. “It didn’t hurt us _before_ we knew, either.” 

Amanda took Corky’s hand, while Becca took a seat beside him. 

Becca looked around, unsure of what to do. They needed their mother mother right now. Mom was the one who normally made them feel better when things like this were going on. She was the one who comforted them and reassured them, whenever they were troubled. For the first time, however, their mother seemed to be the one who needed someone. She appeared to be the one who was hurt the most. After all, they had discovered that their father hadn’t wanted them originally, but he certainly loved them now. Becca didn’t doubt that. He couldn’t have faked it all these years. But her mother had just been told that not only had Dad never wanted her, but he didn’t love her at all anymore. Drew had made it clear to his kids that he had left Libby, not them. 

“What are we going to do?” Corky asked.

“I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” Becca answered. “You can’t change another person’s feelings. Dad feels how he feels about Mom and us. Mom feels how she feels about Jerry. That’s it.”

“I don’t like it.” 

Again, they were silent.

“I think Libby deserves to be happy,” Amanda said. “She wants everyone to be happy all the time. We should all want the same for her.”

No one acknowledged that she had spoken.

“Come on, Charles,” Amanda finally said. “Let’s go to our room.”

Wordlessly, Corky stood up and followed her out of the room. After a moment, Becca checked all the doors and turned off the lights. As she headed upstairs, to her bedroom, she heard crying coming from her parents’ room… well, her mother’s room, now. When she stood outside the door, she heard Libby sobbing in a way she never had before.

“Don’t cry, sweetie,” she heard Jerry’s voice through the door.

“But- but… She’s my _daughter_!” 

“I know, love... She’ll come around. She’s just upset right now. She’ll be back. She’s always come back before. She loves you.”

“No, she doesn’t! Even when she was li- little, she hated me. When someone mistook me for her m-mother, she’d always tell them ‘That’s not my mother, she’s my father’s w-wife.’ Not even step- step-mother! … I always knew this day would come. Now she’s finally ri- rid of me!”

A gut-wrenching wail came from Libby, causing Becca to rap on the door.

“It’s open,” Jerry called, softly.

When Becca opened the door, the sight she saw broke her heart. Jerry and Libby were on the small bench, in front of the window. Her mother, the person in the family who had always been the strongest, was curled up on Jerry’s lap, wrapped in his arms and sobbing like a small child. When angry, she could appear to be so imposing and now she looked so… tiny.

Becca looked at Jerry, questioningly. He gave her a sad smile.

Slowly, she approached them and took a seat, on the bench.

“Mom…? Please don’t cry.”

Libby started. She immediately looked at her daughter, but didn’t remove herself from Jerry’s grasp.

“Oh Becca…” she said, reaching for her daughter’s hand. “Please don’t pay attention to what you heard. Your father loves you, both you and Corky. His issues with me are nothing to do with you. You are his children and he _loves_ you.”

“What about Nicky?”

Jerry glanced at Libby, but she stayed focused on Becca.

“Don’t worry about Nicky. Don’t worry about anything. Your father loves you and _I_ love you. So _very_ much.”

“Mom… What Paige said to you...”

Libby’s face crumbled and she burst into tears again. She turned to Jerry and began sobbing into his neck. They stayed that way for a long time, Libby crying, Jerry whispering soft, soothing words to her and Becca holding her hand.

“Come on, sweetie,” Jerry said. “Let’s get you into bed.”

Libby nodded.

Jerry stood up from the seat, lifting Libby into his arms. As she continued to whimper, he carried her across the room and set her on the bed, gently. Libby immediately curled up into a fetal position, her sobbing not letting up. When he stood, to walk around to the other side of the bed, Libby grabbed his hand.

“Don’t leave me, Jer. Please stay with me,” she sniveled. 

“I’m never going to leave you, Libs. Not ever,” he said, softly. “I’m just going to come lay next to you.”

“Where’s the baby?” 

“I put him in his bed.”

“I’ll go check on him, Mom,” Becca said, softly.

Libby nodded, but didn’t answer. Becca watched as Jerry climbed onto the bed, next to her, and pulled her mother into his arms. Libby began crying again and she clung to Jerry, as if he were a lifesaver.

“Don’t cry, my sweet love. I love you so much and I promise everything’s going to be ok...” Becca heard him murmur, as she closed the door behind her.

She went into Nicky’s nursery, to make sure he was ok. The baby was sleeping, soundly. Jerry had set the baby on his side, the same way Libby had taught them all to do it. 

After checking on her brother, Becca went into her own bedroom and sat down on her bed. She was deep in thought, wondering whether she should go downstairs to call her father and berate him now, before Paige had the chance to tell him what she had said, or call him tomorrow and completely ruin his holiday. 

As she was weighing the pros and cons, she heard her mother’s bedroom door open. 

Becca went to her door to see Jerry tiptoeing out of her mother’s bedroom. He stopped when he saw her.

“I, uh…. I was just going to check on Nicky.”

“I just checked him, he’s fine. How’s my mother?”

“She fell asleep.”

“Is she ok?” Becca asked, nervously.

“She will be, she’s just hurting right now. She’ll probably be better in the morning.”

They stood there, awkwardly, neither knowing what to say to the other.

“I’d really like to stay with her tonight… if that’s ok with you,” Jerry said, softly.

Becca hesitated a moment.

“Sure, of course,” she answered, knowing that, despite what she thought, it wasn’t really her permission to give.

Jerry turned to go back in the room, before turning back to look at Becca.

“You know, Becca… I _really_ love your mother. I’ve loved her for much longer than you can imagine and… all I want is to make her happy. That’s it... I don’t want to take your dad’s place, I don’t want to force you to have a relationship with me that you don’t want. But I’d like to be your friend, if you’ll let me.”

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“Do _you_ make her happy, Jerry?”

“I think so. I try to. I promise you and your brother and your sister that I’m gonna spend every day of the rest of my life trying to make her as happy as I can,” he said. 

“She deserves that,” Becca finally said. 

“Yeah.”

“Well, goodnight then,” she said.

“Goodnight Becca.” 

Jerry headed back into the room. 

“Jerry?”

He poked his head out of the door, to look at her.

“Welcome to the family.”

Jerry blushed and smiled, sheepishly.

“Thanks.”

Becca returned his smile, before heading downstairs, to call her father.


End file.
